Dig Deeper Book Review
Dig Deeper by Nigel Beynon and Andrew Sach is a very engaging book that sets out with the goal of giving Bible readers tools (mostly literary tools) to better study and understand the Bible. I really enjoyed this book, but to really understand it you have to read it through a couple of times. Also, you will want to take time to look up the Bible passages they use for examples to showcase the tools.
Here are each of the tools presented in this book…
- Author’s Purpose Tool – What is the author saying? Who? What? When? Where? Why?…
- Context Tool – everything is connected – word, sentence, paragraph, section chapter, book, author, Bible
- Structure Tool – How is text divided? How are divisions related? Types: Bookends, Chaism
- Linking Words Tool – connecting reasons to results.
- Parallels Tool – Repeat phrase to help with meaning. Types: Antithetical (opposite), Chiastic (reverse)
- Narrator’s Comment Tool – Sometimes the author makes note of something specifically
- Vocabulary Tool – Use a Bible dictionary. Do not assume the meaning of the word.
- Translations Tool – differences between literal, dynamic, and paraphrase English Bibles.
- Tone and Feel Tool – What emotion does a reading envoke?
- Repetition Tool – What is being repeated? Could it be important?
- Quotations and Allusions Tool – The Bible sometimes quotes itself (quote) and sometimes it refers to itself (allusion)
- Genre Tool – What type of style is this passage? songs, prophecies, proverbs, laments, visions, speeches, parables, narrative
- Copycat Tool – What are we to copy? What are we to not copy? Bible description does not mean prescription
- Bible Timeline Tool – Basic Timeline: Creation, Fall, Death of Jesus, Resurrection of Jesus, Return of Jesus. Where is this passage occurring on the timeline relative to where I am?
- “Who am I?” Tool – Who is this person relative to who I am? We might be the villian, not the hero.
- “So what?” Tool – What is the author’s purpose? Apply the Bible to your life. Do I need to stop/start doing something? Motives matter! Action and thought!
I have just wrapped up a several-week series in our adult Sunday school where we walked through each of the tools offered in this book. We had a great time applying these tools to our reading. The main goal of this book is to not become one of those Christians that takes a passage outside of context or beyond the meaning of the author. We want to be true to His word.
I think this book is an excellent book for anyone who wants to be able to study closer their Bible. To help, I created a bookmark with each of the tools to keep in your Bible for easy access. You will find it attached to this post below.
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